Michael didn't need to be told before knowing to whom the voice belongs, but what was shocking to him was that he has been around them for a long while by the way he spoke to them and they didn't notice his presence.
He had also thought he had died cause he saw clearly when Joshua pushed him in the direction of the mosquitoes.
'He must be severely injured at the very least from the swarm of those mosquitoes, he should be close to death right now. But he is still speaking fine and if he was severely injured, he shouldn't be able to get close to George without him knowing. Maybe we both let our guard down because of the fight that has been going on', Michael tries to analyze the current situation and state of Andrew to his current best.
But on seeing the appearance of Andrew, he had to squint his eyes and he was also shocked cause he seemed fine without a bit of injury on his body and his signature smile was still plastered on his face.
Michael became tensed all of a sudden due to the aura emanating from Andrew at this instant. It was almost at the same level as his aura or even greater than it, which goes to show that Andrew was as powerful as he was right now.
'But why the need to hide his prowess if he is this powerful', Michael couldn't help but think. "Why?", George says while blood spurts out from his mouth. "Hey, stop talking and wasting your blood", Andrew screams as if George was just squandering his wealth on invaluable stuff.
"Hmm", a soft sound escapes from George's mouth. "Just be patient a bit", says Andrew while dragging George in a specific direction.
On noticing the direction which Andrew was taking him, George couldn't help but get angry. Andrew was about to sacrifice him to the unharvested herb just like they had done to Joshua. He struggled with all his might to resist but it was all in vain as he couldn't even raise a single finger in retaliation.
"Apart from just piercing through your heart I also laced my sword with the poison of the spider I escaped from previously. Although it has been diluted by water a lot of times, it still retains its paralyzing effect just in case you are able to perform the impossible of gathering strength in such a situation and it's all in order to prevent you from squandering such precious blood. Killing you wouldn't take so much effort but it's all needed", Andrew says at this moment when realizing what George was trying to do.
George was appalled by such a revelation and gives up the thought of resisting, seems like Andrew thought so far ahead and he didn't doubt Andrew's claim of being able to kill him effortlessly as he didn't need to waste much energy to kill him at the state he was now and also due to the fact that he was able to get behind him without knowing, he could have just beheaded him but instead had to pierce through his heart. After all, he didn't notice when the cutlass went through his heart, so he did probably be defenceless to a head strike.
"Good boy", Andrew says noticing there was no longer any struggle in his eyes like he had given up on his fate. He keeps on dragging George towards the herb and Michael just stares at him without reacting due to the carefreeness which he uses to carry the body of George towards the herb, he couldn't be sure if the carelessness of Andrew was a trap or not, so all he could do was watch as the situation unfolds. Andrew just moves at a steady speed without rush and eventually gets before the herb and then without a second thought, he severe George's head as if he was just an ordinary animal in the slaughterhouse.
He had a blank expression on his face as he watches the blood of George fall on the herb and it was quickly absorbed as usual. He threw the body towards the herb just like it was done to Joshua and watched as the herb drains all the vitality from the corpse. He doesn't seem to be affected by the power drain from the herb and just stands beside the herb as it drains every energy from the body of George and soon it decomposes to nothing, even a speck of dust from the corpse wasn't remaining.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Tch Tch, I had thought that just his body would be enough cause it seems to have almost been filled up. But seems like another body is needed to be sacrificed", says Andrew shaking his head and then turning in the direction of Michael, he seems like he was just lamenting as if the food which he ate was not enough and just had to take a little bit from the pot to satisfy himself.
Michael felt chills when he was stared at by Andrew. 'How can he make me feel this way? That look of his is just like how I looked at him before now. Is this the same Andrew I know?', Michael says inwardly while beads of sweat were unknowingly forming on his body.
The look of Andrew was terrifying after all and him being unharmed even after being surrounded by those mosquitoes would make anyone feel afraid and his new aura was way beyond what he usually had.
"Did it all happen during the short period he was gone, or perhaps before then', Michael thought once again. He couldn't be blamed for thinking that way as Andrew has formerly said that he felt like he would gain something great in this expedition, and perhaps he had gained it when he was at death's door.
"Be at ease, be at ease. No need to be tensed", Andrew says while moving towards a tree just beyond the boundary of the absorbing range of the herb.
"I know you have many questions and I would fulfil your final wish of satiating your curiosity. Don't be restrained and just ask away", says Andrew with a childish grin on his face.
Michael wasn't still able to stop being tense, but on seeing Andrew sitting on the tree on which he landed, he just had to decrease his guard, cause being on guard for a continuous time would drain his mental energy and that would in turn affect his battle prowess greatly.
"When did you find out?", those were the words that first left Michael's mouth. "I did think that you would first ask when I became this powerful, guess the minds of men sure are unpredictable", Andrew pauses for a while before continuing, "From the beginning, I was suspecting. The way you easily accepted me to training me. In such a world, there is no free meal in this world where the strongest rules, I was on guard for a while but I guess I started trusting all over again which came to be a mistake on my part. After all, you were a better actor than I am, you performed your acts perfectly and even with little to no flaws, I was critically shocked when I found out".
"And when was that?", Michael couldn't help asking as he was curious to know at which point he started making mistakes.
"Hahahahahaha. I guess you are pretty curious right", Andrew couldn't help laughing maniacally for a while before he regains his normal composure with the same harmless smile on his face which made him look too innocent such that one would have believed that he hasn't harmed even the weakest beast in the forest. There was silence for a while before Andrew continues, "That night after you saw the doctor. You came to my room wanting to kill me right?".
Michael was shocked cause he was sure Andrew was unconscious for real then. "I was awake then and if not for the doctor's assistant that came back in to pick up something he forgot, I am sure I would be dead by now, guess I would have to thank him for that later. Seems the injury made it seem like I was unconscious but I became conscious a little bit after the operation. I forced myself countless times to believe that my eyes were hallucinating as you had always shown me the best care and affection out of everyone in the village, and you didn't try killing me after then. But, I later realized that it was a pure truth".
Michael couldn't help but ask, "What gave me out the second time?". "I would answer that but before then I would need to tell you something", Andrew pauses once again with his head bowed.
He raises his head but the smile on his face has become hideous as he said, "I know you planned with Annie to kill Jerry and I also know that Marian is your daughter".
"Man, you sure are a psycho", Andrew says while chuckling hard. Michael jolts as nobody except him and Annie knew this truth, even Marian doesn't know he was her father and he didn't even plan on revealing it.
"You were tailing me?", Michael asks after calming down a bit.
"You could say that. And before you ask, the reason why you couldn't find out, was due to my muscle injuries which made it seem like I was dropping in power. I was able to imitate it but on a higher level. I learnt how to rein in my power fully which in turn decreases the possibility of anyone being able to sense my presence", Andrew replies in one breath.